5.7 L TBI Starter Install

[89Suburban]

Truck up on ramps, hood opened, cardboard to lay on, round up tools, get ready to freeze your tea bag off laying under the truck, check.

 

[89Suburban]

Old ****** ass starter that finally called it quits, she was a good soldier.

 

[89Suburban]

Remove negative battery terminal, 5/16" socket.

 

[89Suburban]

Remove bolts holding those stupid braces that run from the engine to the bell housing cover. They are 5/8" socket. I was able to just take the 2 bolts out of the bell housing end and the braces swung away far enough to clear removal.

 

[Swims350]

it wouldn't come out with the bar in place?

Also alot of the aftermarket terminals are 3/8 instead of 5/16 if anyone runs into that, and top pot are usually 7/16 and 1/2.

 

[89Suburban]

Next, remove 6 bell housing cover bolts and remove cover. They are also 5/8" socket.

 

[89Suburban]

it wouldn't come out with the bar in place?

Also alot of the aftermarket terminals are 3/8 instead of 5/16 if anyone runs into that, and top pot are usually 7/16 and 1/2.

I am taking the bell housing cover off so i can measure the tooth clearance between the starter and flywheel gears. Very true about the terminal bolt size difference between different vehicles depending on who did what to them. No matter what size the head of the bolt is, the threads on the side post batteries are 5/16" coarse thread. Sometimes if you strip the threads out using the factory terminal bolts, you can remove them off the cable and just a standard bolt that can thread deeper into the threaded hole to the good threads and use a nut to tighten the cable into place. Those factory terminal bolts are kind of short in the threads IMO.

 

[davbell22602]

What do you need the cordless drill for when replacing a starter. The starters must come on and off differently on the squares compared to the 88-98 fullsize trucks.

 

[89Suburban]

What do you need the cordless drill for when replacing a starter.

That's my impact driver. I got an adapter for it to go to a 3/8" drive for my sockets and extensions. That baby saves me a lot of time.

 

[89Suburban]

Now that is ONE SEXY LOOKIN torque converter!!!

 

[davbell22602]

That's my impact driver. I got an adapter for it to go to a 3/8" drive for my sockets and extensions. That baby saves me a lot of time.

Ok, All I use is sockets,ratchets,and wrenches for replacing a starter.

 

[Old77]

it's a bit oily under that there rig you gotz there....

 

[89Suburban]

Next remove nut holding the battery cable and fusible linked wire from the large stud on the soleniod. This can also be different sizes. This one was 9/16" socket. And then the trigger wire, the nut on that stud can be different sizes too. I couldn't get a 5/16" to fit it, and a 3/8" was too big, so I had to opt for a 9mm.

That heat shield makes it a real bitch to get to these nuts.

 

[89Suburban]

Ok, All I use is sockets,ratchets,and wrenches for replacing a starter.

Yup. I break the bolts loose with the ratchet, then zip them in or out with the impact driver. Most of the time the impact driver will do most of it. Those converter cover to bell housing bolts were a real bitch to break loose with the 3/8" drive, I was surprised. And one of the starter bolts was only hand tight.

 

[89Suburban]

it's a bit oily under that there rig you gotz there....

Yah, sucks. It aint the valve cover, and it aint the rear main seal, that flywheel is pretty dry. I think it is the pan gasket.